Managing committed processing rates for shared resources

Abstract

Commitments against various resources can be dynamically adjusted for customers in a shared-resource environment. A customer can provision a data volume with a committed rate of Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and pay only for that commitment (plus any overage), for example, as well as the amount of storage requested. The customer can subsequently adjust the committed rate of IOPS by submitting an appropriate request, or the rate can be adjusted automatically based on any of a number of criteria. Data volumes for the customer can be migrated, split, or combined in order to provide the adjusted rate. The interaction of the customer with the data volume does not need to change, independent of adjustments in rate or changes in the data volume, other than the rate at which requests are processed.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 receiving a request for an adjusted committed request rate for a customer with respect to a type of resource, the customer having a current committed request rate for the type of resource; 
 determining whether the adjusted committed request rate is less than the current committed request rate; 
 reducing, when the adjusted committed request rate is less than the current committed request rate, the current committed request rate for at least one first instance of the type of resource; 
 determining whether the adjusted committed request rate is more than the current committed request rate; 
 committing, when the adjusted committed request rate is more than the current committed request rate, to increase the current committed request rate using portions of an available capacity from one or more resources, wherein the portions contribute to increasing the current committed request rate to the adjusted committed request rate, and wherein each of the one or more resources have existing users sharing the one or more resources and allow for additional users to use the available capacity; and 
 storing information for the adjusted committed request rate and the portions. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the request is received from one of the customer or a management component monitoring a usage by the customer. 
     
     
       3. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending a message to the customer indicating whether the adjusted requested committed request rate is in effect. 
 
     
     
       4. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein reducing the current committed request rate further includes:
 determining a number of instances of the type of resource available to provide the current committed request rate; and 
 reducing, the number of instances to correspond to the adjusted committed request rate. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein committing to increase or reducing the current committed request rate further includes:
 transferring at least one request handling commitment of the customer to a different instance of the type of resource providing the current committed request rate. 
 
     
     
       6. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further includes:
 receiving and processing an adjusted committed server rate request from the customer, the adjusted committed server rate request being substantially independent of a capacity of any instance of the type of resource. 
 
     
     
       7. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein each instance of the type of resource is capable of supporting the current committed request rate for multiple customers, and wherein each instance of the type of resource is capable of supporting requests for additional customers without committed request rates. 
     
     
       8. A system for adjusting usage of shared resources, comprising:
 at least one processor, 
 memory including instructions for execution by the at least one processor for causing the system to:
 receive a request for an adjusted committed request rate for a customer with respect to a type of resource, the customer having a current committed request rate for the type of resource; 
 determine whether the adjusted committed request rate is less than the current committed request rate; 
 reduce, when the adjusted committed request rate is less than the current committed request rate, the current committed request rate for at least one first instance of the type of resource; 
 determine whether the adjusted committed request rate is more than the current committed request rate; 
 commit, when the adjusted committed request rate is more than the current committed request rate, to increase the current committed request rate using portions of an available capacity from one or more resources, wherein the portions contribute to increasing the current committed request rate to the adjusted committed request rate, and wherein each of the one or more resources have existing users sharing the one or more resources and allow for additional users for use the available capacity; and 
 store information for the adjusted committed request rate and the portions. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the request is received from one of the customer or a management component monitoring a usage by the customer. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the system to:
 send a message to the customer indicating whether the adjusted requested committed request rate is in effect. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the system to:
 determine a number of instances of the type of resource available to provide the current committed request rate; and 
 reduce the number of instances to correspond to the current committed request rate. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the system to:
 commit to increase or reduce the current committed request rate by transferring of at least one request handling commitment of the customer to a different instance of the type of resource providing the current committed request rate. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the system to:
 receive and process an adjusted committed server rate request from the customer, the adjusted committed server rate being substantially independent of a capacity of any single instance of the type of resource. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 8 , wherein each instance of the type of resource is capable of supporting the current committed request rate for multiple customers, and wherein each instance of the type of resource is capable of supporting requests for additional customers without committed request rates. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions for adjusting usage of shared resources, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to:
 receive a request for an adjusted committed request rate for a customer with respect to a type of resource, the customer having a current committed request rate for the type of resource; 
 determine whether the adjusted committed request rate is less than the current committed request rate; 
 reduce, when the adjusted committed request rate is less than the current committed request rate, the current committed request rate for at least one first instance of the type of resource; 
 determine whether the adjusted committed request rate is more than the current committed request rate; 
 commit, when the adjusted committed request rate is more than the current committed request rate, to increase the current committed request rate using portions of an available capacity from one or more resources, wherein the portions contribute to increasing the current committed request rate to the adjusted committed request rate, and wherein each of the one or more resources have existing users sharing the one or more resources and allow for additional users to use the available capacity; and 
 store information for the adjusted committed request rate and the portions. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions when executed by the processor cause the processor to receive the request from one of the customer or a management component monitoring a usage by the customer. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the processor to:
 send a message to the customer indicating whether the adjusted requested committed request rate is in effect. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the processor to:
 determine a number of instances of the type of resource available to provide the current committed request rate; and 
 reduce the number of instances to correspond to the adjusted committed request rate. 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the processor to:
 commit to increase or reduce the current committed request rate by transferring at least one request handling commitment of the customer to a different instance of the type of resource providing the current committed request rate. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed further enable the processor to:
 authorize the customer to request an adjusted committed server rate that is substantially independent of a capacity of any single instance of the types of resource, wherein:
 optionally, each instance of the type of resource is capable of supporting the current committed request rate for multiple customers, and 
 optionally, each instance of the type of resource is capable of supporting requests for additional customers without committed request rates.